Steel Magnolias #38

Good morning everyone! Hope your hump day is starting out well. I have been busy this morning finishing up the trip laundry, trying to get housecleaning done and finishing Emma's last hat. The little heart on the topknot has a bell in it and tinkles when the hat moves. Here it is all done and now I have them in vinegar water setting the colors so they won't run. I will then wash them and get them ready to send to Emma.

The Wilkinson household is all excited this morning. If the Cubs win their game tonight and tomorrow, they will clinch their division title and be able to go on to the playoffs. One more step towards the World Series! Also, Jay called last night and Alicia found a way to get off Thanksgiving weekend so they will be here and we are going to combo Thanksgiving and Christmas. We are going to do something fun this year. We buy for the two kids, but not the adults. This year we are going to exchange names for the adults with a $10 limit, but not for themselves. Whomever's name we have, we buy a toy that fits their personality so let's say I have Tom's name, I would buy a Rubic's Cube because he is so brainy, or an Oscar the Grouch for Jack! We are then going to take all the toys we bought and give them to Toys for Tots. I think it will be lots of fun. I told Jack, too bad they don't still make Chatty Cathy in case I get Kelly!

I have started my first candy striped stocking cap for their stockings for Christmas. It is Jiffy yarn so nice and soft and yet can be washed and dried. I have 6 adults and two kids to make so I have to get on the stick.

Maggie: Congrats on your big loss! Great job!

Susan: Hope the quilt expo thingy went well and you enjoyed all the different ones. Thomas is selling popcorn again for Cub Scouts, but I can't eat it anymore and we still have tons left from last year. CSA are doing a popcorn to the troops deal and his Cubscout Pack wants to send 1000 boxes. I think I bought something like 10 or so. I am not sure. I bought $50 worth whatever that comes out to be. It is a way I can support T, but not get stuck with tons of popcorn this year.

Jean: Jack has an external GPS and I bought him a new holder because the one that came with his Tom Tom kept coming off the window and falling off. I swear one of those times it was going to ruin it and we just bought the thing to take to Houston. I went Yahooing and found a place and found one that works great because it kind of screws on not just suction cup so it stays in place. I don't use the thing, but we did use it tons in St Louis.

Gloria: Hope you are doing well. It sounds like it. We are still pretty warm here, but seems to be cooling down at night.

Good Evening, Flowers! It was another warm day in my neighborhood. My summer/spring clothes are getting a workout! I need to start digging for whatever I wore last fall and winter. One of these days the warm weather will be history I'm afraid. Today was more of the same at school. One of the teachers I work with is waiting for her MIL to die so she will be gone for a few days. The algebra teacher is going to be gone tomorrow for a funeral. The reading teacher is facing foot surgery which she wants to put off until Christmas vacation. I'd do it now just to take a few days off! There is never two days that are the same.

We had our first bell choir practice tonight. The minister is pushing for us to play at both services. The director ended by saying maybe we could just do it a couple times. I hate playing late because we never get home until after 12:30 and the day is shot. I am really thinking about quitting (have had it in the back of my mind for a couple years); nothing was organized tonight and that drives me nuts. The clock was a 1/2 hour slow, the bells need polishing, the director hadn't selected music, so we just played a few that we already have played and tried a couple new pieces that were real duds.

Gloria -- Congratulations on losing the 20#s. From what I hear the last few pounds hang on for dear life. Good luck! The scary part about the yahoos at school is that they will be taking care of us someday.

Susan -- It was 86 degrees this afternoon on my way home from school. It sure doesn't seem like it is the middle of September. I didn't know that the Catholic Bible had 7 more books; I learned something tonight! I'm glad your knee is on the mend. You got a bang for your buck . . . double posts!

"Gma" -- I'm glad you are back to knitting again. The hat is darling! I love your idea for the adult Christmas gift exchange! That is such a thoughtful thing to do and you will all have fun doing it! I hope the "big" kids will be willing to give up their toys.

I need to go pack up some clothes and move some boxes so that Bob can get into the bedroom/bathroom wall corner. Not exactly what I wanted to do tonight. If our water wasn't so expensive I'd let it drip through the weekend so I could sort and pitch rather than pack and move.

Have a terrific Thursday tomorrow . . . 2 more days and it is the weekend!

Good morning to you all! Hope your Thursday is starting out well. I get to work on getting the downstairs cleaned today. I think I am going to put a couple of mutant chickens as Jack calls them in the oven for dinner tonight.

I bought some bison burgers and hot dogs and am going to try them. Jack won't eat them unless he doesn't know and I don't think I can get those by him. I hear they are very good. Anyone had bison?

Jean: Sounds like you are going to have a rough year at school. The kids just seem to be gettin rowdier and rowdier. We always seem to have plumbing issues in the condo and I have to get someone in here again. The place is going to fall down around our ears. lol

I have Emma's hats all wrapped up and needing to be taken to the post office and sent to her. I am now trying to get those stocking caps done. They use bigger needles so it is a much easier project.

Other than that, nothing exciting in our world. Oh, I did get a couple phone calls from my dd yesterday. Very mysterious asking questions about what we were doing this weekend then calling back and asking if Jack had Columbus or Veterans day off, which he has Veteran's day off. She said it was about my birthday present (my bday is the 28th) and that I was going to love it. A little later, I checked my email and there was a confirmation from the swanky hotel/casino in Tunica. She had booked us an over night stay with 2 buffets! I asked her if like the contests do, if that included $1000 playing money and she said, no the money I had to come up with on my own! lol So, we get a little trip in November for an overnighter.

I got to get up from here and get the cleaning started. The job I love to hate. Have a good one gals.
Faye

Good Afternoon, Flowers! It's a another beautiful day in my corner of the world. Lots of subs at school today and the kids sure take advantage of that. The guy who was in algebra had no clue and the kids knew it. He tried to fumble his way through and the kids just rolled their eyes and laughed at him. I didn't feel too sorry for him. When I used to sub I admitted what I didn't know and let it go.

"Gma" -- It sounds like you have a nice birthday weekend away to look forward to. What a thoughtful gift from your daughter! I've never had bison although I know that it is available around here. I'm not a big meat eater so I don't go looking for it as a priority.

I've got to get back to cleaning out the corner of my bedroom. Our water bill will be out of sight if we don't get the leak fixed. Have a relaxing evening and a FANTASTIC Friday tomorrow. I am ready for the weekend!

Looks like it is going to be another nice day here. It is nice to have the cooler temps, but still be warm. I guess we will make the trek out to the commissary tomorrow.

I have the first candy striped stocking cap done. One down and 7 to go! lol I call it my "Dr Seuss on the Loose" hat! I am making one family the red with white, then the other family white with red, then maybe one whole white with red trim and one whole red with a bit of white trim for Jack and I just to have them a bit different.

I noticed when we were in St Louis and had gone to Cracker Barrel for breakfast what cute ornaments they have this year. I think I am going to go and pick some up to add to what I have and weed out the old stuff. I am going to decorate on a snowman theme this year I think. I got a "general" catalogue similar to Lilian Vernon and they have a lot of snowman stuff in it. Since the kids are coming down for Thanksgiving, the tree will go up early. Actually, this is the first year since B died that I have put up a tree because he always crawled up the base and it would tip over.

Jean: I remember in high school always being so affronted when the kids tried to trip up a sub. I thought it was such a mean thing to do. I guess nowadays I would ask for ID! lol Besides the water bill you have to be careful of mold. You surely don't want that to get started anywhere.

Jay and Alicia were at Wrigley field out in the bleachers yesterday and he kept sending me pics from his blackberry of everything. We were down 6-2 bottom of 9th with two outs and got one run in then the pitcher put two on base and Geovany Soto came to the plate, hit a homer and we tied. Jay said the ballpark went nuts when that happened. Jack and I were watching on tv and were whooping it up pretty good too. They ended up winning in the bottom of the 12th. They only have to win 2 games to win the division and they have 9 still to play to end the season. I always get tickled as the season always ends on my birthday. I even got to go to Wrigley one year for my birthday and Jay got the radio announcer to put it out on the radio for my birthday. We had a group go with us and man oh man was it cold that day. The Cubs had already clinched the division so that last game meant nothing and the regular starters weren't playing, but all the duds were. We only stayed for about half the game because of the cold (we didn't have winter stuff with us as the day before it had been really nice so we froze) but it was nice to see one of the ballplayers from the 70's get his number retired that day.

Better get up and get going. I have things to do this morning as usual.
Faye

Good Afternoon, Flowers! It's been another beautiful day in my corner of the world. The reading class kids were awful today; one kid walked out and I wrote him up since the teacher never said a word. She's supposed to be the one in charge, not me! Bob cut a hole in our bedroom wall . . . no leak there. Next he tore out the downstairs bathroom ceiling and found not one, but several leaks in the copper pipe. He fixed one and will finish the project tomorrow. He isn't into sheetrock and texturing so will have to have someone come in and do that, but at least we didn't have to pay a plumber.

"Gma" -- The hat turned out really cute! Bob is going to leave the ceiling open for awhile to be sure it is dry. I'm not sure why but there was insulation (wet, of course) between the floor and ceiling. You definitely are die hard Cubs fans!

Bob is asking about supper so guess that is my cue. Have a nice evening and a super weekend! We are supposed to have this nice weather for a few more days.

Good evening, ladies! A beautiful cool day here with more to follow. Chilly at night, though. I had to put a quilt on my bed last night.

Took my car for the state inspection today and an oil change. Of course I could get away with just that. They found a leak in the rear cylinders so that was another $250 but at least it's good for another year...I hope.

Tomorrow I'm going to my friend's house for the day and we'll do some quilting.

Faye, I hope you get a picture of everyone in their hats for us to see. I'll be a great sight.

Jean, glad you found the leak and Bob could fix it. It sure is expensive to have to get a plumber involved.

Have a good night!

__________________
Susan

HW 356 pounds - CW 135 - GW 137

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain.

Good morning everyone. Today is commissary day so it will be an early day for us. I like to get out there when they open and 9 and get the darn stuff done. We always have stuff they don't carry we have to get so that is another trip to Target. I have quit going to Walmart if I can. Target is a bit more expensive, but worth it just to be in a clean store.

Susan: Cars seem to bleed money most of the time. I have to say though that I can't complain about the grand marquis. We have had a couple issues, but mostly just regular maintenance. If I remember right, Va turns the darn car inside out for an inspection. We always dreaded that time of year because we never had the money to get stuff fixed if they found an issue. Here they just test your horn, lights, wipers, turn signals, make you set your emergency brake and try and back up, and tests the emissions. Takes about 2 minutes to do. Thing is, if you live in the county, you don't have to have your car inspected, in the city you do. Now, you can drive less than 10 miles down the road and be in the county and everyone in the county usually works in the city so their "smog" is in the city anyway. Dumb, but that's the way it is here. Up until about 8 years ago, our area wasn't incorporated so we didn't have to have inspections either. That's the thing, there are communities dotting in and out around Memphis that are unincorporated so they don't do inspections. Just another way to get tax $$ not really a way to protect the citizens. Funny thing, Jack works for the city, but as long as he lives within Shelby county he is ok and Shelby county stretches a long way. There are a few guys who live at least 60 miles from the plant but are still part of the county. We had a fire chief who was hired who lived outside the county and they gave him 30 days to have a county residence. I bet he didn't live 2 miles outside Shelby county. It is all silly.

Jean: Glad Bob found your problem and can get it fixed. Plumbing I think is the worst because it is something you have to tear into walls and ceilings to fix half the time. I guess that teacher you worked with thought you would just take care of things. Kind of her to allow you to be the one to right the kid up.

Good Morning, Flowers! It's going to be another beautiful day in my neighborhood -- the sun is up and the windows are open! Bob has the water shut off for a couple hours to finish the plumbing project. He is replacing the copper pipes with plastic so hopefully we won't have any more leaks in our lifetime here. I can think of lots of things to do but they all require water. I do need to go to the Hallmark store and look for a special card. I always remember my dad and "mom's" anniversary with a thinking-of-you card even though my dad has been gone 6 years in October. Time flies that's for sure.

Susan -- At least you know that your car shouldn't have any more problems for awhile. Do you have to have the cars inspected every year? Iowa used to require that but no more. I suppose there are too many junkers that wouldn't pass inspection and the people wouldn't pay the money to fix them. It cools down here at night too and that's nice for sleeping with the window open. Enjoy your day of quilting with your friend.

"Gma" -- According to "plumber Bob" it is the horizontal copper pipes that will leak because of the water pressure. Our town has had major problems with copper plumbing springing leaks all over town. Supposedly the new water treatment plant has fixed the problem, but our water bills are so high. I'm anxious to see how much a week of multiple dripping will be. Ernie likes to drink out of the faucet rather than his bowl. I am not looking forward to the sheetrock mess but guess it is a necessary evil.

I've got to make the bed and get myself ready for the day. Guess I will run my errands while the water is shut off. Have a great day!

Good morning everyone. It is still quite warm everyday here. Got up into the high 80's here yesterday I think. We got the commissary shopping done and came out of the store and it was terribly humid.

Jean: I will keep that in mind about the plumbing. It doesn't matter because we would have to hire someone no matter what. Some of the stuff is covered in our home warranty though. Our water bills a year ago went up
100%. I guess the stupid city hadn't raised water rates in 20 years so they did it all at once. My water bill went from like $6 to $15 a month. Jack told me yesterday there has been a major shake up at work. They have had a lot of problems out there, racial and other and the new Public Works director is tired of it. The other plant doesn't have problems like the one Jack works at. Anyhow, I guess they removed the plant manager who has been there over 25 years and "reassigned" him, fired one of the managers under him, "reassigned" another one, and demoted a guy from a foreman back to just a mechanic. There are a lot of black guys out at the plant and they seem to always be filing grievances for everything. They seem to think that if they don't get a job they want whether they are trained or not, a grievance is going to get them what they want. They have had mechanics apply for the job Jack has and they have no electrical training and when they don't get it they file a grievance. That seems to be the biggest issue with the grievances. Jack told me that something had been done to him that he never told me about because he thought it would upset me too much. I guess they were in a safety meeting and everytime Jack tried to make a point about this certain issue, this black guy who is a real pain in the tush to the plant and Jack has a big chip about whites, and happens to be be the shop steward would interrupt him. Jack finally got fed up and turned around and told him to shut the heck up. He filed a grievance against Jack and won even though he leaned into Jack and told him to watch his back and that they could take it outside and he would show Jack who was the man. He called Jack a Cracker a couple times which is deragatory for a white person and made some other remarks to him. When Jack went to the grievance meeting he said, "At least I admit I said it to him and I would have done it again and to whomever kept interrupting me, not just a black guy. I seem to be more of a stand up guy than he is because he has repeatedly called me names and made threats to me and he denies it all." I guess Jack got a verbal reprimand and it lasts 6 months then is removed if he has no further trouble, which he hasn't. I find it disgusting that this ridiculousness goes on out there. I did ask Jack if after this happened if the other black guys seemed to be rude to him or refuse to talk to him and such and he said no. He gets along fine with the other control tech out there and the black electricians. Seems like the trouble makers are the lower paid guys that don't have skills and want promotions simply for money and think they should get them so are envious of the ones who do have them. They seem to ignore the fact that black or white the electricians have to have a lot of training to do what they do they don't simply fall into the job. It has nothing to do with skin color. Anyway, we shall see what happens. It looks like Jack's boss may apply for the maintenance manager's position and Jack is going to then apply for his bosses job. We shall see. lol Maybe if women ran the thing........

Well gals, I am going to put away the dishes out of the diswasher and sit and knit for awhile. Have a wonderful Sunday!

I had a bit of time before we leave for church so am sitting here sipping my coffee. It is pot luck day here today and I started last night making what I am taking. Got the burger, bacon and Italian sausage all cooked and just had to assemble the other ingrdients into the crock pot and let it do the cooking. The dish is my Cowboy Bean recipe. It has lots of yummy good smelling stuff in it.

Yesterday in the afternoon we moved into our offices. Got out desks out of the front room where the internet connection is. The teck brough out one of those wireless antenna little boxes and we can be both on line and in different rooms. My room is clear at the end of the house and it amazes me that technology has come so far in such a short time.

Just when I had gotten my cooking and moving done the phone rang and two of my college boys wanted to come over to play some Monoply so we played until about 11pm. Will opted out (doesn't really like to play that game) and the three of us had a great time. I'll miss these two when they graduate. One is leaving in December and has a sport coaching job lined up at a university in another town. His wife works for she has already graduated and has a job connection also lined up. They are both very bright folks and fun plus they like hanging out over here. Ragg Mopp loves the company. He thinks they are here for him. I imagine they will want to come back over after pot luck today along with some others. The music professor and his wife who is a nurse at the hospital like to play and a couple of other students also so we shall see. I just never know who will be at my table next.

Ladies have a wonderful day.

__________________DON'T EXCHANGE WHAT YOU WANT MOST
FOR WHAT YOU WANT AT THE MOMENTDOWN THE ROAD TO THINSUCCESS OCCURS WHEN OPPORTUNITY MEETS PREPARATION

Good Afternoon, Flowers! I've been to early church (took MIL along) and to the grocery store. She had a list and I needed a few things. I kept the two orders separate, but the dingy girl who was bagging stuff put things together. I came home to sort rather than stand in the parking lot for everyone's entertainment. Bob is singing at second service so should be rolling in shortly. When it rains it pours . . . . . he got his plumbing project all done and went to the basement to turn on the water. There was a river running from the hot water heater! It's been snap, crackle, and popping for quite a while so I wasn't surprised. That ended up being his afternoon project! I am so thankful he knows how to do handy man things! He isn't crazy about electricity, but he will do simple wiring. Our water heater was only 5 1/2 years old -- "they don't make 'em like they used to!"

"Gma" -- I will trade you water bills any day . . . I'd even pay your's for a year! Our average is $38 - $45 a month, depending if it is actually read or estimated, and that doesn't include garbage. I will admit they finally got the bleach smell out of it this summer. We still drink filtered water though. I don't think I would like working where Jack does. I admire him for keeping his cool. The blacks who just moved here from Chicago, all seem to have the "I, Me, My" mentality. I have one girl in a study hall and a class; she thinks the rules apply to everyone but her and she is insulted when told to be quiet. She vents at teachers daily. I'm glad you are enjoying your knitting once again.

Maggie -- Your Cowboy Bean recipe sounds delicious! Enjoy the potluck! I'm with will when it comes to Monopoly. I usually lose all of my property right away! Give me a card game any day. I'm glad the college kids have a place that they feel comfortable to go to. I'm not surprised at your hospitality!

Bob just pulled in the driveway . . . he was done singing and they still have the sermon to get through. The associate pastor ALWAYS goes way over time and I hate going when he preaches. Have a nice afternoon!

Had a great time yesterday with my friend. After church today we had a pancake breakfast to benefit the youth ministry. I spent the afternoon making blocks for a signature quilt I am making for a wedding gift.

Faye, I think Jack is a remarkable man to be able to stay calm with those stupid people he works with.

Jean, you sure are luck to have Bob the Plumber living with you. It costs a fortune around here. We have good water but I still use a Britta filtered pitcher for drinking water and I have a Britta filter on the kitchen facuet.

Maggie, those beans sound wonderful. I love to play Monopoly.

I have to finish my Bible study assignment so this is it for today. Have a good evening.

__________________
Susan

HW 356 pounds - CW 135 - GW 137

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain.

Good morning to you all! Looks like it is going to be a very nice day here today. I have made a daily cleaning list for myself that I hope will keep me from getting worn out doing all the cleaning at once. We shall see if I like it or if I just go back to doing upstairs and downstairs. With just the two of us and "mighty dog" things don't get dirty. Fortune doesn't shed so I don't have dog hair all over.

Maggie: I know your beans were a big success yesterday. Jack loves to play Monopoly as does Thomas, but I am not much of a fan of the game. Jack is a little too cutthroat for me! lol Glad you have your office all put together now. It is nice to have a place to go to.

Jean: I hate it when the bagger put non food items in with food items. We are "nice" shoppers as we put items together to be bagged, ie all the cleaning supplies and such together, all can goods, all produce, all boxed foods, then soft food items like bread, noodles, eggs and such and I come home and find canned good with my now squished bread! We learned our lesson a couple years ago about putting cleaning stuff last as the idiots put cleaning stuff with meat and it leaked. I was more than livid as I had to drive back out to the commissary and get the stuff exchanged. Even with the gas prices and the commissary savings it was too much money just to heave out.

Susan: I am almost done with hat number two. This one is Thomas's as it is smaller. I just have the decreases to do then sew it up. I bought these buttons to put on the front of the cuff of each hat. The cuffs are pretty wide so I bought 2 inch buttons. As I said before, if the adults don't want to keep theirs, we will give them to charity or I will take them to the mission downtown town. Homeless people can always use a warm hat. Our water is artisian well water so it is pretty good actually, but when we lived in San Diego, it was disgusting and we always drank bottled water even though we really couldn't afford to buy it. I noticed the water in St Louis is nasty tasting. I had regular water, Oj and soft drinks and iced tea and it tainted the taste of everything. You could go to suburb areas that didn't have the taste in the water and we were in a couple.

I should be getting up and getting going. I thought maybe Jack's new phone would be here today since it shipped on Friday from right here in Memphis, but looks like it won't come until tomorrow so I don't have to hurry around and get dressed. I can clean first.

Have a good start to the week everyone! Only 14 weeks until.......
Faye

Good Afternoon, Flowers! We've had some rain, some sunshine, and lots of wind today! It was supposed to be in the 80s today, but the temperature dropped quite a bit this afternoon. It was a typical Monday at school . . . ho-hum. We don't have school on Friday so that is something to look forward to.

Susan -- The signature quilt sounds interesting. That would make a lovely wedding gift; I hope that the couple appreciates all of the work involved.

"Gma" -- Usually the grocery sacker will put the cleaning stuff in individual paper sacks and then all together in a plastic bag. I did have bars of soap in with my apples this time. We have a friend who is a department manager at WM and one night when we were shopping there was only one check out open. He called for more checkers and no one showed up. Bob was kidding him and he said that the help turnover was unreal. They'd just get people trained and they would quit with no notice, just not show up. I REALLY didn't need to know that there are only 14 weeks until Christmas! I promised myself I would be more organized this year, but I doubt that will happen. Maybe in my next life!

Bob is home and looking for something to eat. Have a relaxing evening and a terrific Tuesday tomorrow!